Yunuen Gutierrez           Composition April 18, 2002 No More War on Drugs           For many years the American Government has been unsuccessful in the war on drugs. Billions of tax dollars have been invested to fight the war; nevertheless, victory seems far away. As new administrations arise, they claim to have better approaches to eliminate drugs from the streets. However, failure seems to be the only result during such a war. More and more independent agencies have been trying to educate the public to say no to drugs; however, they have been ineffective. Therefore, a new attitude is required in order to stop all kinds of drug dealers who benefit from selling and bringing drugs into the country. The government should legalize the use of marijuana, cocaine, and other natural drugs.           First of all, the government should monitor all drugs in order to set quality standards. With this measure the government could protect individuals from getting drugs that can actually harm their systems. Having dealers sell drugs on the street without quality standards is more harmful than having the government regulate the distribution since drug dealers are only interested in obtaining money from their customers. In addition, the government should provide a set of rules for individuals who will engage in the consumption of either marijuana or cocaine. For instance, they could implement laws that would prohibit the selling of drugs to individuals who are under twenty-one, or prohibit the consumption of drugs in open areas. Such a new government attitude will definitely upset those individuals who accumulate wealth by selling drugs at very high prices since there will be no reason for consumers to pay high prices.           Second, the government could impose high taxes on establishments that are willing to sell drugs as well as any individuals who are interested in buying marijuana or cocaine. The government and the public, in this case, will benefit from the collection of taxes from such industry. No more increases of budgets to fight the war on drugs. Instead, the collection of taxes could help the government provide more community services. Without legalizing the use of drugs, all drug dealers are making large amounts of money without paying taxes. Therefore, it is better to have the government step in and tax all profits obtained from selling any drugs.           In conclusion, legalizing the use of natural drugs might be a better way to fight the war on drugs. Since drugs will always exist and will be consumed by individuals inevitably, the government might as well take advantage and collect taxes from such business activities. Furthermore, the budget invested to fight the war on drugs could be used instead to educate the public on the consumption of drugs.